


Talk

by fishfingersandjellybabies



Series: Clone!Dick AU [2]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2015-06-29
Packaged: 2018-04-06 20:13:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4235085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason and the clone have a conversation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Talk

**Author's Note:**

> I connected the two prompts because I felt they went really well together. A few minutes after this conversation, clone Dickie makes a joke that he shouldn’t be drinking because he’s not technically 21. Jason wants to cut all ties right then, because that was hella lame and he’s embarrassed.

He found him on the roof, and that fact in itself forced him to hesitate.

It…it was such a _Dick_ thing to do.

When Jason stepped on a loose shingle, the man in question turned, and - _Christ_ , he looked sad. Sadder than Jason had ever seen the original, he thought, and he’d seen the original _pretty damn sad_.

“You okay?” Not-Dick asked.

Jason shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Good.” Dick replied bluntly. “Then what’re you doing up here?”

Jason couldn’t help but shrug again. “Demon-shit asked me to.”

Dick’s face scrunched as he thought it out. “…Damian?”

“Yup.” Jason drawled, sauntering over next to Dick and plopping down. Dick watched as Jason pulled two beer bottles out of his jacket, handed one to him.

Dick just stared at it. “Why do you call him that? Bruce didn’t have that in…in the information he gave me.”

“Because his grandpa is a pretentious piece of crap and calls himself the Demon Head.” Jason explained. “Don’t worry about it. It’s kind of an inside joke for Tim and I. You…I mean, Dick, he never called him that. So don’t worry about it.”

“Oh.” Dick hummed. He watched the bottle for a few more seconds before sighing, twisting the cap off. He raised it to his lips and took a deep gulp. “Why did he ask you to come up here?”

“To make nice with you, I guess.” Jason took a drag of his own beer, staring up at the pastel sky. “He claims I’ve been giving you mixed signals, and that that’s rude of me.”

“It’s okay.” Dick tried to smile. “You don’t have to. I…I do get it, why you don’t like me.”

“It’s not that.” Jason admitted almost instantly. He let out a loud groan, leaning back on his elbows, stretching his neck out. “It’s not that I… _don’t_ like you. Or that I’m mad specifically at you. If I was, do you really think I’d save your ass on patrol? I’m mad at Bruce, and have a really terrible tendency to take it out on other people.”

“…Why are you mad at him?” Dick asked slowly.

“Because-” And it seemed today, all Jason could do was exhale exasperatedly. “Because this is all he does. This is all he tries to do, day in and day out. Replace. Dick. Grayson.”

Dick curled his knees up, bent his elbows over top of them.

“That’s the only reason I’m here, was that in the files Bruce gave you?” Jason asked bitterly. “I was just a replacement, for when Dick wised up and went out on his own.”

Jason chugged his beer. Dick turned to look up at the clouds.

“I never thought I’d be the last one, I was never naive enough to think that.” Jason clarified. “I just never thought…never thought he’d be this _literal_. Replace Dick Grayson with an _actual_ Dick Grayson." 

Dick just blinked.

"Like…it’s the twenty-first century. I thought a robot, maybe.” Jason continued. “Another kid that looks exactly like the rest of us. Named Bob, or something. Rachel, if it was a girl.” He crossed his knees, kicking his leg to an unheard beat. “But never go as far as to actually clone Dickie. Make an _actual copy_.”

“I think he tells himself…” Dick finally whispered. “I think Bruce wants to believe that he did it for Damian. To ease the stress he already had from being resurrected, and the changes that brought.”

“Bullshit.” Jason bubbled.

“Yeah.” Dick agreed. Another sip of alcohol, another sigh. “Yeah.”

“But,” Jason grunted, suddenly sitting back up, mimicking Dick’s posture. “For the record, everyone who’s been telling you otherwise is right. I’m mad, but not at you. None of this is your fault. It’s just…it’s weird, knowing he’s dead, but still having to look at him every day, you know? And, ask anyone, I’m probably the worst at adapting, especially to stuff like this. So…I’m sorry. For the supposed ’ _mixed signals.’_ ”

“It’s not your fault either, Jason.” Dick muttered, glancing up through his hair. “And, whether you were truly a replacement for…for _him_ or not, I just want you to know that I think he was very proud of you. Very proud that of all the people in the world, it was _you_ who carried on his legacy.”

“Ugh, _please_. Just because I’m not _mad_ at you doesn’t mean I actually _like_ you either.” Jason snorted. “I was really hoping that sincerity crap was just your act, not actually _you_. That’s one thing I _don’t_ miss from the original, that’s for _sure_.”

“What can I say?” Dick laughed up into the air, knocking his shoulder against Jason’s. “I have to draw you into my charm somehow. Us replacements have to stick together after all.”

Jason made a gagging noise, but joined into the laughter anyway. 

They laughed for a few minutes. Good, solid laughter. The kind only really close friends got to take part in. They weren’t that, not yet, but they seemed to find a little common ground here, and that was a start. Dick was happy for that. Jason was too, though he wasn’t going to say it out loud.

Damian was right after all. He had been rude to the clone, and purposely so. But only to mask his true feelings on the matter. It hurt. Everything about this - Dick being dead, Dick being replaced, all of them being _lied_ to - it _hurt_. Like hell, and then some. He wondered if the clone, if _this_ Dick knew that.

He hoped so. But that was a topic for their next conversation, because he was sure they’d have one.

As their chuckles died down, Jason glanced up at the stars appearing above them. After a brief pause, he sighed, raising his bottle. “To Dickie.”

Dick smiled and repeated the action, softly echoing, “To Dick.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Other Clone!Dick stories](http://fishfingersandjellybabies.tumblr.com/search/clone%21dick)


End file.
